Stitching Saturday - Indigo Lane

Happy Stitching Saturday, Friends! I have a project to share that I finished a few weeks ago. It took me awhile to get it framed, as I did not have the correct items to frame it, plus I was NOT interested in paying a ton of money to have it professionally framed! 

I confess it has been decades since I framed a stitched piece, so this is by no means perfect, but it is good enough for my liking.

I had been admiring this pattern, Indigo Lane by With Thy Needle and Thread. When my birthday rolled around in February, my lovely friend Becky surprised me with the pattern! There are several patterns in the booklet, but I just stitched the main one for now. 

Becky also gifted me an amazing pair of scissors and a needle minder! She is such a lovely friend! 

I do not follow the correct fabric or floss listed in a pattern. I used to be very careful about that when I stitched years ago...but now...I just do what I want! I think being in the paper craft arena for so long has taught me to "go with my gut" on most things! 

I used Icelandic Gray 14 count Aida by Wichelt. It is a beautiful, pale gray fabric. The pattern called for a huge list of hand-dyed floss, but I just am not going to spend $2.50 for each color, and then it is for 5 yards of floss! I also do not care for the variegation you can get with the hand-dyed floss. I just used DMC floss, which I can buy for 60 to 65 cents for almost 9 yards! I confess that while I love stitching, I do not love how expensive it has become!

I did my best to convert the floss over to DMC, but in some cases there was not a very good conversion, so I just chose colors I liked. I want to do this pattern again with other colors, and maybe just do the motifs and the house, and not do the tree and birds. We will see if I ever get back to it!

I am very happy with the end result. I decided to frame it with a plain frame I got for way too many dollars on Amazon! Frames are so expensive! This one was not really the correct size, but a custom frame would have cost even more! This frame is 7 1/4" x 13 1/4" with a 6" x 12" opening. 

I placed some batting between the stitching and a piece of foam core, then pinned the fabric to the foam core. I did my best to get it stretched and pinned straight. It is not 100%, but close enough! Plus, the foam core was too big, and I ended up having to take it apart to redo it! {sad face}

I wanted to hang the piece on the wall in our front room, but it looked so sad and lost on the wall, that I decided I am going to use it on the buffet instead. I have a full display with the colors of my décor, and this fits right in! I plan to make some companion pieces in the same color family, and then I can create a triptych or something on the wall. 

Note: I have not been able to stitch for about a week as I have injured my right thumb! I am trying to get some patriotic and summer themed things finished, but...I have had to take a break!

Here is the very silly story....My husband received a Switch for Christmas, and along with the system he received Mario Kart 8. And, because we are empty nesters with time on our hands, and it gets dark early in winter, and it is way too cold to swim in the pool....we started to play the Mario Kart almost every evening. 

Well, the combination of me mashing the "speed button" during our Mario Kart races, and stitching for hours on end while holding my embroidery hoop has injured my hand! More specifically my right thumb. It is unclear if it is tendonitis or just an arthritis flare up, but it is painful and most crafting has been halted for about a week! Thankfully, I am left handed so I can still do most things, I am just being very careful with my right hand. Even typing this post is uncomfortable! Stupid Mario!

Thanks for joining me today! Happy stitching! 

Pattern: Indigo Lane by With Thy Needle and Thread

Floss: DMC (372, 613, 3032, 712, 950, 844, 420, 3750, 834, 318, 414, 169, 3011, 167)

Fabric: Icelandic Gray 14 Count Aida by Wichelt
Frame: Amazon 

Foam core: Amazon

Tools: pins, clips, double-sided adhesive, ruler